Friday Commentary:
I was thinking about buying a brand new TV next week, but now I've decided to sell my old one instead. Or have I?
All this energy spent wondering if we're buyers or sellers, and in comes Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman from the Twitterverse to save the day.
#rockies might be willing to trade a starter, such as cook. not really a seller, more a rearranger now. have depth at SP.
REARRANGERS. There's a term that fits the bill. As we approach the trade deadline tomorrow, Rockies fans prepare to see what sorts of deals are made. Several Rockies, including Joe Beimel, Brad Hawpe, Clint Barmes and Aaron Cook (well, sort of) have had their names sprinkled about. Beimel and Rafael Betancourt were pre-deadline acquisitions for the team last season. Ironic that both may become potential trade chips for us now.
The team's philosophy at this point is this: we're not entirely out of contention, but our journey to the post-break Malebolge has put us in a position to consider the fact that it will take more than a couple tidbits here and there, the Jorge Cantus and Ryan Theriots of the world, aren't going to be what pushes the team to the postseason. The only trade we could possibly make that would have a significant impact on our final 2010 position would cost us some of the farm, thus potentially risking future runs for one that's more than a little unlikely. Instead, we must carefully asses the organizational position for the rest of this year and the next, and begin to take advantage of these considerations when it comes to the trade market.
Trading players like Beimel (who is not a season-maker) or Hawpe (whose value may plummet during the offseason) or Cook (whose salary off the books would free up more than a little spare change) are not the raising of the white flag. Instead, these and other proposed trades represent an "organizational rearrangement" that will set us up for our core to try and play us out strong, while we optimize our 2010 exit strategy by polishing the budget and maybe finding ways to get potential 2011 team members like Chris Nelson or Matt Reynolds a little bit more familiar with the MLB.
This strategy will allow the Rockies as a whole to continue to fight for whatever chance they can this season, balanced with considerations on 2011 and beyond. I do not expect any significant trades, but there are always surprises at the deadline.
So far, we've seen a couple of small trades (Cantu, Jhonny Peralta, Scott Podsednik, etc.) and some bigger ones (Roy Oswalt, Dan Haren). Two days left to squeeze out any moves before trades must be following an exposure to waivers.
Links n' bits after the jump.
Troy Renck's ever-informative Twitter feed told yesterday of interest in Hawpe from the Padres, in addition to the White Sox. The White Sox, as we learned earlier in the week, are considering Hawpe as a backup plan to Adam Dunn. Fox Sports' Jon Paul Morosi added the Tigers to that list. Renck speculates via Twitter than Hawpe's last few games have helped the case to let him stay the couse.
Yesterday's news feed at the Rockies official website at MLB.com, material written by staff writers Thomas Harding and Joey Nowak. Stories includes notes on Aaron Cook and Dexter Fowler's recent performances, as well as a good little piece on Joe Beimel's attitude towards trades.
"There's no sense of worrying, so I'm not giving it any thought." - Joe Beimel
For whatever it's worth, he'd like to stay.
Kirk Mitchell of the Denver Post reports that the death of Rockies president Keli McGregor earlier this year has been ruled to be of natural causes. "Natural causes" is a term that confuses a lot of people; it basically means that there was no reported evidence of any foul play and/or external cause like poison or drugs, or in other words, it was related to some sort of natural medical condition. Specifics of this report were revealed only to next-of-kin, per Utah law.
A quick reminder: Todd Helton will be beginning his rehab with the Casper Ghosts tonight. What an awkward place for Todd to rehab.
With the trade deadline around the corner, national news on anything else of note is rather short. Keep your eyes on Twitter and MLBTradeRumors today; more moves will be made.